In coma the patient is listening

The Indian Upanishads have been saying that one can hear even while in coma and so one should not talk bad or ill in front of a comatose patient and now another western study has proved this.

Researchers led by Lorina Naci, PhD, and Adrian Owen, PhD, of Western University in London, Ontario have established a primitive type of communication with two nonresponsive patients using fMRI to measure their attention to certain words, serving as responses to questions. The study is published in online in JAMA Neurology.

The technique in future may be useful in establishing basic communication with patients who appear unresponsive to bedside examinations and cannot respond with existing neuroimaging methods.

Brain activity measured by fMRI in one patient with minimal consciousness and one in a persistent vegetative state demonstrated not only that they heard words spoken to them, but also could use their attention to the words to give "Yes" or "No" answers to questions about their names and location.

The second patient, who had been in a persistent vegetative state for 12 years after a head injury, was able to "answer" in the negative when asked if he was in a supermarket, but affirmatively when asked if he was in a hospital. The patient also gave correct answers to yes-no questions about his name.

These "answers" were in the form of increased activity in brain regions that had previously been activated during a training period in which patients were instructed either to count occurrences of the words "Yes" or "No" when spoken to them or to ignore them.

With functional magnetic resonance imaging it is possible that behaviorally nonresponsive patients can use selective auditory attention to convey their ability to follow commands and communicate.

 Earlier studies

·        Some apparently comatose patients retain some cognitive ability despite being unable to move or speak.

·        In one study, fMRI showed distinctive patterns of brain activity when patients were told to imagine certain images.

·        Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in a vegetative state for 6 years following a stroke, was found to show a unique pattern of brain activity in response to the voice of his son.

(Source MedPage)